How skilled is your property manager?

Started by GerogeM • 13 replies • 679 views

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GerogeM
Posts: 10

Posted:

I am relatively new to the HOA board, and only have dealt with our property manager for about six months.

Our property manager is nice, friendly, and good with e-mail. However, she seems to be more of a glorified secretary. She will pass vendor contracts and vendor communication back and forth, and handles the e-mail communication between the vendors and the board, but doesn't actually manage any projects. The project management aspect is left to the board.

I personally would like to see our property manager take on more project management role so the board members can be more in a decision making process and less trying to manage projects.

Just wondering what other folks experience with property managers has been.

KerryL1 (California)
Posts: 14,550

Posted:

Read your contract with the Property manager or the company she works for, the Management Company (MC). She might be doing what the contract says. If your Board thinks you need more services, you'll have to pay more.

For us to suggest what you MIGHT want:

What size is your HOA?

Detached homes, or condos, or?

Many amenities like pools, clubhouses, etc?

MarkM19 (Texas)
Posts: 1,459

Posted:

George,
Many if not most Property Managers have limited experience IMO. Not all but many are new to the industry and learn a lot on the job. It sounds like that is what you have on your Property. They are also usually underpaid for the job they do. I also am curious about the size of your HOA. I am imagining it is on the small side and you probably are considered a Portfolio account to the PMC. This means you only get a small piece of this persons time monthly. She likely has many other properties that she does the same thing for monthly. This is exactly why I talk about Boards being made up of a diverse group so that the Board can use the experiences they have in their professional life to help the PM with bids and also contract talks.

If your board is not managing your PM a little or a lot in some cases bad things can happen. Before I got on my latest board the PM was asked by the board to a camera system for our Common areas including the Pool. She found 1 company and gave them their bid and then signed a 5 year lease with no mention of a buyout at the end. The Company has been terrible and it took 4 months to get 1 camera repaired. We are stuck in a terrible deal. I would never ever sign a long term lease for any Tech equipment. The current board has 3 years left on a garbage lease with no real out option.

As a board member you need to manage your manager and remember they work for the board.

CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299

Posted:

Our full service PM is top notch. She works for a local company that was formed when a homeowner was loudly and persistently dissatisfied with the management of her community, and the board president finally asked her if she could do better. The company is continuing to grow. When I started working for a new home builder in 2006, the large majority of their communities used The Big Company in this area. Now the large majority of communities use The New Company, which I found out about when coworkers and homeowners sang their praises.

Our PM outperforms the previous ones in every way. Her company prides itself on delivering quality, professional service. They also have a stable of vendors who have performed excellent work in their other communities - we're now spending less for better work. I can even call up the owner of the company, who would talk to me about whatever my concern is. Board members are also asked to provide feedback every December on our manager's performance for the previous year - the PM's compensation is based in part on the results of this feedback.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

We have a very experienced, highly qualified PM company. That said, we do not use (purchase) all of their services. When we interviewed PM companies most had "levels of service" and the cost to us depended on how many levels we wanted (pay for). This is quite common.

DonG7 (Utah)
Posts: 11

Posted:

I've observed that our current and past "Managers" are probably a little more than minimum wage employees, know very little, and cover their butts by saying, "the attorney said it's OK," when it is NOT OK. Funny how they never seem to have that in writing - like in response to an email question (like I always used to get when I was on the Board.) I caught our current Manager lying about an issue like this, since I know the attorney and I asked him.

JaredC (Texas)
Posts: 264

Posted:

GeorgeM it's called teamwork. As the client you need to evaluate the money paid to your vendor (property mgmt) vs services requested. It's a you equation.

As previously mentioned it's not uncommon for PM's to suck. They may not be great at project management or knowledge of law.

How much are you paying and why are you paying that amount? Just sayin.

GerogeM
Posts: 10

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JaredC on 06/04/2020 9:22 PM
GeorgeM it's called teamwork. As the client you need to evaluate the money paid to your vendor (property mgmt) vs services requested. It's a you equation.

As previously mentioned it's not uncommon for PM's to suck. They may not be great at project management or knowledge of law.

How much are you paying and why are you paying that amount? Just sayin.

Yes, when the contract is up for renewal I think we need to review what services we purchase from the property management company and purchase only those services that we feel we get our monies worth from. From my perspective, we get good money from having someone be the communication focal for the homeowners and having them take care of accounting. I am not sure we get our monies worth from having them execute site visits (these do not seem to happen per our contract) and I find that trying to have the property manager work with vendors is a waste of everyone's time.

Next year, we will review what services we purchase and I think make some changes here.

MarshallT (New York)
Posts: 414

Posted:

Hi,

You will need to take a look at the property management agreement/contract to see if the manager is doing exactly what she agreed to, or if there is some room for improvement.

Not all PMs are the same. If you find that she is supposed to be taking on more project management responsibilities, have an honest talk with her about what the board expects.

BarbaraT1 (Texas)
Posts: 821

Posted:

Project management is a skill in itself. I’d consider myself qualified to manage a painting project or landscaping installs, but when I have thinks like repairing perimeter walls or dredging a pond - I’m not a certified project manager or engineer and I’d do more harm than good trying to pretend to be one.

Property managers tend to know a little bit about a lot of different things and it’s wise to call in subject matter experts when you need them.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

GerogeM is gone after he didn't like the answers he got to another question on another thread. I hope his skin is thicker than that if he's a Director.

PaulJ6
Posts: 990

Posted:

The property manager- and the entire management company- in my new HOA are excellent. They handle everything very professionally. I expect that they cost a lot, but that's the deal.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Do not expect a PM to be versed in all needs of an association but do expect they know where to go, based on experience, to get the answers.

GeorgeS21 (Florida)
Posts: 3,808

Posted:

I didn’t mean to make Geroge quit.

I was trying to make the point in his other thread that he would have to work hard to get the result he apparently wanted ...

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